Process of the use of heavy oil in the manufacture of carbureted water gas



J. A. PERRY March 6, 1934.

PROCESS OF THE USE 0F HEAVY OIL IN THE MANUFACTURE 0F CARBURETED WATER GAS Filed July 27, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l J. A. PERRY March 6, 1934.

PROCESS OF THE USE OF HEAVY OIL IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBURETED WATER GAS Filed July 27, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 M/VE/VTOR @Tf 5y 7 @Sep/ ffm/Mfr.

Patented Mar. 6, 1934 PRGCESS OF THE USE OF HEAVY OIL IN THE MANUFACTURE CARBURETED WATER GAS Joseph A. Perry, Swarthmore, Pa., assigner to The United Gas Improvement Company,

Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application July 27, 1929, Serial No. 381,439

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to the manufacture of carbureted water gas.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of improvements in the manufacture of carbureted water gas, whereby heavy oil may be used more eiciently for carbureting than when operating according to previous proposals for the use of such oil. By heavy oil I mean oils which yield larger amounts of coke in the carbureting operation than the gas oils customarily employed.

Heavy oils are cheaper than the gas oils usually employed, but it is difficult to use them eiliciently because of the large amount of coke deposited from them. When the usual carburetor filled with checkerbrick is employed the rapid clogging of the checkerbrick impairs the efficiency of the apparatus and necessitates frequent shut downs for cleaning of the checkerbrick.

There have been proposed numerous expedients for the use of heavy oil, among them the spraying of the oil on the generator fuel bed, with the deposition of the resultant coke on the fuel bed, another proposal is the removal of the carburetor checkerbrick and the spraying of the oil into the empty carburetor. Both of these expedients are improvements over the spraying of heavy oil into a carburetor filled with checkerbrick. Both, however, have disadvantages. For instance, the spraying of the oil onto the generator fuel bed interferes somewhat with the efficient operation of the generator for its primary purpose of producing blue water gas. The removal of the checkerbriclr of the carburetor, while it prevents the clogging of the carburetor, and permits the deposit of the coke from the oil, in its base, reduces the vaporizing capacity of the carburetor.

The present invention provides improvements in the use of heavy oil which retain the advantages of the above methods and are free from their disadvantages.

The invention will be described in connection with the attached figures which form a part of the specification and in which Figure 1 shows a partial side elevation and partial vertical cross section of one form of the apparatus of the invention or in which the inventionmay be performed.

Figure 2 shows a partial side elevation and ver` tical cross section of another form of the apparatus.

Figure 3 shows a partial plan view and partial horizontal cross section.

Referring to Figure 1,

1 indicates the generator, 2 the carburetor, 3 the superheater and 4 the wash box of a carbureted water gas set.

The generator is provided with the fuel bed 5, and the air blast supply means 6. The steam supply means 7 is provided for up-steaming the fuel bed. The steam supply means 8 is provided for down-steaming the fuel bed or such down-steaming may be effected by the provision of other steam supply means as at 9.

The generator is in communication with the carburetor by connection 10, and 11 is the secondary air supply to the carburetor. The generator may be provided with the gas oiftake 12 provided with valve 13 leading to the Wash box 4 through a connection not shown or to another wash box not shown.

The carburetor is provided with the oil supply 'l0 means 14 and with the fuel bed 15. The carburetor is also provided with the air blast supply means 16, and may be provided if desired with the steam supply means 17. The carburetor is in communication with the superheater through '(5 connection 18. The superheater is connected to the wash box by connection 19 provided with valve 20. 21 is the gas offtake from the wash box to a place of storage, not shown. 22 is the superheater stack valve.

In the operation of the apparatus of Fig. 1.

The generator fuel bed is blasted with air supplied at 6, the resultant blast gases passing to the carburetor where they are burned with secondary air, storing heat in the walls of the carburetor and passing thence through the superheater, (where further heat is stored) to the stack. At the same time the fuel bed 15 in the carburetor is blasted with air supplied at 16, the blast gases also passing through the superheater to the stack.

The fuel bed 16 in the carburetor is preferably shallow, the blast gases from it containing little combustible, the heat produced by the blasting being largely stored in the fuel bed. For this operation valve 22 is open and valves 13 and 20 closed.

When suflicient heat has been stored in the generator fuel bed, the carburetor and superheater, the air blast is terminated. The stack valve 22 is closed and if an uprun in the gener- 100 ator is to follow the blast, valve 20 is opened.

Steam is admitted to the base of the generator fuel bed and passed through it, the resultant water gas passing to the carburetor Where it is carbureted by oil admitted at 14. The oil is in 105 part vaporized by the heat from the walls, and in part falls on the fuel bed, and is vaporized by the heat from the walls and the heat of the fuel bed. The coke from the oil vaporized above the fuel bed is deposited on the fuel bed by the llo later consumed.

From the carburetor, the water gas and oil vapors pass through connection 18 to the superheater, where the vapors are lightly cracked to fixed oil gas by the stored heat, passing to the wash box and thence to storage.

This operation may be followed if desired by a downrun of steam through the generator with steam supplied at 8 or 9. For this operation valves 20 and 22 are closed and valve 13 open. The resultant water gas passes to the wash box 4 through a connection not shown or to another wash box and to storage.

If desired the generator may be provided with reverse steam connections and the downrun water gas passed through the carburetor and carbureted as described for the uprun water gas.

In the operation and by the use of the apparatus above described, the carburetor is supplied l with additional heat of the fuel bed 16 to assist in vaporizing the oil, the high temperature of the fuel bed quickly vaporizes the oil falling on it so that there is little volatile to be given olf by the oil residues during the subsequent blasting ,operation and so lost.

The generator fuel bed has no oil sprayed on it and may be more efficiently operated. The advantages of the empty carburetor are retained, andthe coke released on vaporizing the oil is burned in the shallow fuel bed in subsequent blasting operations to supply heat for carbureting. LittleV additional fuel need be supplied to the carburetor fuel bed.

Where the combustion of all the deposited carbon is notrequired, a small amount of steam may be admitted to the carburetor fuel bed during the run to consume carbon unconsumed by the blast.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3,

23 is the generator, 24 the carburetor, 25 the superheater and 26 the wash box of a carbureted water gas set.

The generator is provided with the fuel bed 27, and with the air and steam supply means 28 and 29, respectively, for up-air blasting and steaming. The generator may be provided with means for down-steaming as at 30, or downsteam may be supplied elsewhere as at 3l.

The generator may be provided with the downrun gas offtake 32, leading through a connection not shown to wash box 26 or toward the wash box not shown and from thence to storage.

The carburetor 24 is provided with the fuel bed 33 (preferably shallow) and with the division wall 34 extending from the top of the carburetor, with a Space between the bottom of the wall and the fuel bed.

The carburetor is' further provided with oil supply means 35 and 36 for spraying oil into the carburetor on either side of the wall 34. The carburetor is further provided with the secondary air supplies 36 and the air blast supply means 37. The steam supply means 38 may be provided, if desired.

The generator is connected to the carburetor on either side of the division wall 34, by the connection 39 provided with valve 40 and connection 4l, provided with valve 42. The carburetor is connected on either side of the division wall with the superheater by connection 43 provided with valve 44 and connection 45 provided with valve 46.

The superheater is provided with the stack valve 47 and the oltake 48 leading to` the wash box. 49 is a valve controlling the flow through oitake 43. 50 is a valve controlling the flow through offtake 32 from the generator. There is an offtake from the wash box to storage.

The operation of the apparatus of Figs. 2 and 3 is similar to the described operation of the apparatus of Fig. 1 with the exception of the admission of oil and gases to the carburetor and the flow therethrough. y

The generator is blasted with air as before described, the blast gases being burned in the carburetor with secondary air storing heat therein and then passing through the superheater, storing further heat, and from thence to the stack. For instance, with valves 40, 46, and 47 open and valves 42, 44, 49 and 50 closed, the blast gases pass through connection 39 to the carburetor, pass downward on one side of the wall 34, under the wall and upward on the other side and to the superheater through connection 45. Secondary air is admitted through the supply 360, on the side of the wall the gas enters; Simultaneously the fuel bed of the carburetor is blasted with air supplied at 37, the resultant blast gases also passing `to the superheater through connection 45.

When sufficient heat has been stored in the fuel bed of the generator, the carburetor and superheater, the blast is terminated, valve 47 is closed and valve 49 opened. An uprun is made in the generator with steam admitted at 29, the resultant water gas passing through connection 39 to the carburetor where it is carbureted with oil sprayed into the carburetor at 35. The water gas flows to the superheater in the same path as above described for the blast gases. The' oil is in part vaporized by the heat of the walls, and in part falls on the fuel bed Where the heat of the fuel bed quickly vaporizes it. The oil vapors are carried by the water gas to the" superheater where they are cracked to xed gas. A

The carbon yielded by the oil vaporized by the heat of the walls, is largely thrown out onto the fuel bed by the sudden reversal'of flow around the bottom of the wall. The carbon released by the oil falling on the fuel bed is retained there Iand is consumed by subsequent air blasting to furnish heat for carbureting as before described in connection with Fig. 1.

After the uprun is terminated, a downrun may oe made with steam admitted at 30 or 3l, the resultant water gas passing out through gas offtake 50. The steam supplied at 31 may be passed directly to the generator by manipulating the proper valves, or may go through the carburetor. For these operations valves 47 and 49 are closed and Valve 50 open. The other valves are open or closed as may be required.

The cycle is then repeated except that the blast gases from the generator pass through connection 41 to the other side of the wall 34 instead of through connection 40, and flow reversely through the carburetor and to the superheater through connection 43. Secondary air is supplied to the side of the carburetor at which the gases enter. During the succeeding carbureting step the water gas passes through the carburetor in the same direction as the blast gases and the carbureting oil is introduced at 36 instead of 35.

The fuel bed of the carburetor is blasted during the blasting operation as before described.

This blasting of the carburetor fuel bed is not necessarily as prolonged or at the same rate as the generator fuel bed, but is performed as is required to furnish the additional heat required for carbureting the heavy oil.

It is obvious that the above operations may be varied considerably and modifications of the operations may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I claim:

1. In the process of the manufacture of carbureted water gas with heavy oil in a set comprising a generator adapted to contain a fuel bed, a carburetor adapted to contain a fuel bed, and a superheater, the following steps: air blasting the fuel beds, burning the blast gases, and heating the carburetor and superheater thereby; introducing steam to the fuel bed in the generator, passing the resulting gas downwardly in one side of the carburetor, above and over the fuel bed, upwardly in the other side of the carburetor to deposit carbon on the fuel bed and through the superheater, and introducing heavy oil to the gas during the downward passage; passing steam in the opposite direction to the preceding step through the fuel bed in the generator and removing the resulting gas; introducing steam to the fuel bed in the generator, passing the resulting gas through the carburetor in the opposite direction to that in which it previously passed. introducing heavy oil to the gas during its downward pass, and passing the carbureted gas through the superheater; passing steam in the opposite direction to the preceding step through the fuel bed in the generator and leading ofi' the resulting gas.

2. In the manufacture of carbureted water gas a process which contains the following steps, burning blast gases in a vessel of refractory material thereby establishing a path of radiant heat therein containing a change of direction, establishing a shallow incandescent bed of solid fuel adjacent said change of direction, passing blue water gas over said path of radiant heat, and carbureting said blue water gas by introducing heavy oil to said blue water gas and passing said blue water gas and the resulting oil gas and oil vapors together over said path and depositing on said fuel bed carbon from said oil gas and oil vapors by means of said change of direction.

3. A process according to claim 2 in which the top surface of the shallow fuel bed intersects the path of the gas at the change of direction in the path.

JOSEPH A. PERRY. 

